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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 121 / Monday, June 28, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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space launch operations to help meet the increasing demands for space exploration and development.
DATES: Effective July 28, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nicholas Oros, Deputy Chief, Policy and Rules Division, Office of Engineering and Technology, at 202 4180636 or nicholas.oros@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commissions Report and Order, ET Docket No. 13115, FCC
2144, adopted April 22, 2020, and released April 22, 2020. This document is available by downloading the text from the Commissions website at https www.fcc.gov/document/fccseeks-make-spectrum-availablecommercial-space-launches-0. When the FCC Headquarters reopens to the public, the full text of this document also will be available for public inspection and copying during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center, 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC
20554. Alternative formats are available for people with disabilities Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format by sending an email to FCC504@
fcc.gov or calling the Commissions Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202 4180530 voice, 202
4180432 TTY.
Synopsis 1. Commercial space launch entities are proliferating and are increasingly involved in all aspects of U.S.-based space activities, such as transportation of cargo and people into space, orbital launches to place satellites and other payloads into space, and suborbital launches. There are a growing number of companies offering services to both private entities and government organizations. For example, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA has engaged two private companies to take cargo and crew to the International Space Station ISS, and companies such as Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX and Northrop Grumman have completed numerous successful missions to the ISS. SpaceX
has recently ferried people to the ISS, and Boeing is developing a spacecraft to do the same. Other companies, such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, intend to take private citizens on suborbital flights. These commercial space launch companies are also actively transporting communications satellites into orbit.
SpaceX, for example, has conducted over 100 launches. Several companies, such as Rocket Lab and Astra, are
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focusing on propelling small satellites into orbit. Bigelow Aerospace plans to deploy a manned space station. To support these commercial space ventures, entities such as the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority and the Houston Airport System have established non-Federal spaceports.
2. The Commission adopts a footnote to the Allocation Table for specified frequencies in the 22002290 MHz band to support commercial space launches and enable continued growth of a vibrant commercial space industry. This allocation shall be limited to use by space operations for the telemetry and tracking operations of launch vehicles during pre-launch testing and space launch operations.
3. The NPRM made two alternative proposals for providing access to this band for launch telemetry use. Under the first proposal, the Commission would add a footnote to the U.S. Table providing primary non-Federal Space Operation service allocations to portions of the 22002290 MHz band. This footnote would require successful coordination of the assignment and use of the band for space launch operations with NTIA; restrict non-Federal use of the band to pre-launch testing and launches at Federal ranges; limit nonFederal transmissions to the 22072219
MHz, 2270.52274.5 MHz, and 2285
2290 MHz portions of the band; and limit non-Federal use of the band to channel bandwidths less than 5
megahertz by launch vehicles. Under a second proposal, the Commission would amend the U.S. Table to add a primary non-Federal Space Operation service allocation to the 22002290
MHz band. This allocation would be accompanied by a footnote to the U.S.
Table with the same restrictions specified in the footnote proposed in the first alternative. The NPRM also asked whether there is sufficient spectrum available to support the growth of the commercial launch industry.
4. The 22002290 MHz band is currently allocated on a primary basis to multiple services for Federal use and is widely used. The only permitted nonFederal use of the band is for stations in the space research, space operation, and Earth exploration-satellite services to transmit to NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System TDRSS on a non-interference basis. According to NTIA, the 22002290 MHz band is heavily used by the Department of Defense DoD and other agencies and these uses are vital for mission-critical systems. NTIA emphasizes that use of the band during commercial launches
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must be carefully coordinated to protect these Federal operations and suggests that the commercial space launch industry be limited to four frequency segments to facilitate this coordination.
Because of the importance of Federal systems in the band, NTIA supports adding a secondary non-Federal space operations allocation to this band instead of the proposed primary allocation. As the private sector began to participate in launch activities, companies needed access to spectrum to facilitate communications associated with launch activities, a need that has continued to increase in recent years.
The STA mechanism that the Commission and NTIA have used to provide access to the 22002290 MHz band during launches is not ideal to handle the increased volume of commercial space launch activities because applicants are often required to file multiple STAs for a single launch and the STAs expire after six months.
STA requests are coordinated with NTIA manually, through email, whereas other non-Federal applications requiring coordination are processed through the Office of Engineering and Technologys Frequency Assignment System OFACS. In the NPRM, the Commission tentatively concluded that creating a non-Federal allocation for this band would be preferable to continuing to issue STAs on a launch-by-launch basis because licenses would better support the forecasted increased number of commercial launches in the future.
Accordingly, in the NPRM the Commission invited comment on adopting such an allocation, as a first step towards establishing rules that would allow for issuing licenses to commercial launch operators to permit their use of this spectrum band on an interference-protected basis.
5. Although commenters disagreed as to whether a non-Federal allocation is warranted or whether continued reliance on STAs is acceptable, all commenters agreed that access to this band for telemetry during launches is necessary. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation expressed the importance of access to this band on a co-primary basis for launch telemetry and pointed out that allocating spectrum even on a secondary basis can eliminate the unnecessary STA process. A coalition of several space launch providers asserted that they must make one or more requests for STAs for every launch and reentry because no spectrum is currently allocated for these purposes, even on a secondary basis. SpaceX
supports the first proposal to add a footnote to the U.S. Table providing a
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